Whenever Brian Urlacher was on the field, he always seemed to be doing two things: playing hard and having a good time. And since retiring from the Chicago Bears in 2013, he’s taken that same approach to his daily life, as well. Urlacher still pops up all over the place, including a brief stint as an analyst on Fox Sports 1, as well as his lucrative sponsorship deals.

But the dude can’t stay away from the game, and he is still just as invested as ever in what goes on in the NFL. Especially this year, as his former defensive coordinator — Ron Rivera — and the quarterback who beat his Bears team in the Super Bowl — Peyton Manning — are set to face each other in Super Bowl 50.

Uproxx Sports spent a few minutes with Urlacher discussing Peyton Manning vs. Cam Newton, what it’s like to play in a Super Bowl, playing for Ron Rivera, of course, his new hair.

What do you remember most about the week leading into the Super Bowl, and the whole experience?

It’s an amazing experience. We beat New Orleans in the NFC Championship, and we were able to watch the Patriots play the Colts, and the way that game ended was crazy. Then it starts to set in after that you’re playing in the Super Bowl. You never think it’s going to happen, especially if you’ve played so long and realize how hard it is to get to that game.

You have to get tickets, and you only get a certain amount of them, but everyone wants a ticket. You have to get everyone set up for the week. And you don’t know how much media is really involved. Every single day there’s availability, but it’s a huge deal. It’s a huge deal to play in this game. You do your TV stuff, and your radio stuff, but I tried to treat it like a normal week. I went to bed at 10:30 or 11 every night, just like I’d be playing in a game at home. I didn’t have any fun during the week. I watched some TV, and my family was there, which was cool. We had our normal Saturday night dinner.

If we’d have won it, it would’ve been a lot more fun. But I always say if I had to lose to somebody, I’m glad it was Peyton Manning.